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2014 Reflections: Nepal

Over the years we’ve reported countless stories of the unending commitment of our response team volunteers to overcome challenging conditions when delivering aid. This autumn’s response in Nepal sits amongst any of them for the sheer grit and determination shown by our volunteers to deliver aid to families living in remote communities.

This past autumn ShelterBox sent seven response teams to assist in Nepal following a series of severe floods and landslides in the country. The teams quickly became familiar with Nepal’s world famous rugged and mountainous terrain.

One team, comprising Sallie Buck, Angelo Spencer-Smith and David Hatcher (all from the UK) trekked 13 miles, across rivers and around landslides in the Surkhet district to find 35 families living under tarpaulins after their homes had collapsed.

Response team volunteer Sallie Buck commented: ‘The trip back was even harder than the trip there, including crossing a thigh-deep river. The temperature had risen considerably by then and we had to make frequent stops. However at the end I felt that this is what ShelterBox does best, reaching the parts that other organisations don’t.’

Makeshift ramps

Meanwhile in another part of the country, a six hour trip by tractor, 4×4 and on foot was the only way for response team volunteers Sanchia Gallagher, Mark Errington and Nicola Hinds (also from the UK) to deliver a consignment of boxes to a remote village in the Taranga area. At one point, boxes had to be manhandled almost vertically up a makeshift ramp to gain access to a suspension bridge damaged by the floods.

Mark Errington said: ‘We were the first NGO to get supplies through as the road had only been cleared a few days before…it’s fair to say that there was a mood of excitement once we erected a tent and demonstrated the equipment to the villagers.’

It is thanks to the support of our donors around the world that our response teams are able to operate in countries like Nepal, working around the clock to ensure aid reaches families in need, no matter how remote, following disasters. Thank you.